Stop to help

Aren't we talking about simple repairs here, that may take anywhere from 15 minutes up to 2 hrs. I do it for one reason, to get me moving faster. A road call could take hours, and most are going to tow the truck to a shop, to get that extra money. Now we are talking about a day lost, or at least a half of a day. I don't get paid by the hour and the places I have worked, don't start paying for breakdown until min 2hrs. If I can fix the problem in less than that time, HOOAH!

 

Lol well you got the Mr. fixit part wrong for sure. Like Mr. Ed said it's not always doing something for the company it's for yourself.

 

If I see someone I can help, I do.
I keep a triage and emergency trauma response hit on hand that I throw in my cab whenever I take off, these days. It's got everything from flares to M2M masks, tourniquets, and celox.

Do I pullover to help a stranded motorist? Only if I see him/her walking down the side of the road, and only if they don't look sketchy.

Would I pull over if I witnessed a bad accident? I have.

I've already used some of my medical equipment to preform first aid after witnessing a really bad t-boning a drunk driver laid on some young lady in a busy intersection of downtown Cleveland. I had to use a full 3 oz pack of Celox and the better part of 3 rolls of clot gauze to get her head to stop bleeding, it was pouring out where she smacked her head on the steering wheel, and if it weren't for the fact that I have my 36 hour training from the state of Ohio as a first responder/fire fighter AND had the foresight to throw together a kit like I had; she would've lost A LOT more blood.

It took the EMT's well over 15 minuets to battle through the traffic to get to us, and her mother followed up with a phone call to let me know she was alright- she mentioned it took the EMT's another 20 to get to a hospital.

This was just in my second month of being a local driver. I've witnessed three accidents. One of them required immediate medical attention.

 

I'm glad that we have people like you out there. thanks

 

I have told myself to buy a kit but, it keeps slipping my mind.... write it down sheepdog, write it down.......noted

 

My former employer made it very clear that our drivers were never to stop with a load, whether it was fuel or tools/parts. If there is an accident, we're allowed to call 911 using hands-free. Unless traffic in front of us is stopped, or DOT put the wig-wags behind us, we were not to stop.

 

If it was a load that requires a security clearance,,,I can understand..

 

It's good to know there's some truckers out there that will still stop and help others. That's something that I would appreciate as a new driver because most pros already know what's better and how to fix it faster. As for the bosses getting mad because you stop and help, that's some BullS....
thanks everyone for the comments

 

The reason many companies have a policy of never stop to help is because of lawsuits and hijacking.

 

Well I must be living on a different planet because there have been times when I just needed someone to hold a wrench and no one around in a full truck stop in the middle of the day. Not saying that someone may have helped but I don't get how people can claim this happens all the time.

Do I not help when I can?

NOPE I try to step in if no one else does or at least I ask.

What the issue about the side of the road thing is all about is safety. I have had problems when I was on the side of the road just recently where my brother truckers refused to move over one lane so I wouldn't get hit with the wind or worst yet have them hit the truck I was on - a couple of these idiots came so close that I held to hold onto the chains so not to be blown off the deck.

Now just this morning there was a fatal accident near my home, a tanker hit an SUV that was broke down on the road. He didn't see it in the lane and just hit the corner of it, killing one kid and injuring the others.

We've had cops hit, we've had cars sitting far from the edge of the road hit so if you plan on stopping, you are risking a lot more than a lawsuit or a hijacking.